From what I’ve read, ‘animal magnetism’ was not accepted as an explanation for his ability to heal and though he was a competent and talented physician, he was discredited for his inability to explain it in a society dominated by fears of the mystical and magical. Had Dr. Mesmer read my book, of course an impossibility, he would have been [I always did like the pluperfect tense] able to explain his ‘hands on’ technique’s success with quasi-scientific persuasiveness and panache.
I, on the other hand, am directing focus toward the concept he couldn’t explain – and how it relates to each of us.